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TARGETING THE EMPTY COW
Matthew Pugh MRCVS & Bill Main MRCVS
Fertility Issues - National Trends
Increasing Yields Extended calving Intervals Poor conception rates Reduced heat expression High barren rates
Is this true on our farms?
Average Lactation Yield Increased from 9000 litres to 10500 litres
The net result of genetic improvement and better feeding
Milk Sold Per Cow / Year - only up 500 litres !
Less or equal amounts of milk being produced per cow in a year
despite her total lactation yield going up.
Calving Interval 410 – 430 days
Cows are getting pregnant over a longer period of time, milk yield is declining in late lactation and the end result is a reduction in milk sold per cow as cows are less productive.
Average Days Dry – average 70 days but look at the range!!!!!
The best example of this is an extra 10 days dry. At what cost to your pocket?
100 day in % Calf Rate 100days + 282 days – 382 CI
Only ~ 40 % of the cows in our NMR recorded herds are getting pregnant by 100 days. Why?
Is it a failure to see them in heat or poor conception rates ?
Combination of both factors.
The End results - Culling for failure to get in Calf National average 17% Target 6%
TB!!!!!!
Extremes in GB Dairying
Holstein Best Worst Mean
< = 100 cows 6.32 2.29 3.67
> 100 and < 200 cows
5.12 2.1 3.21
< 200 and < 300 cows
4.25 2.54 3.14
> 300 cows 4.04 1.98 2.97
Average lactation number: Jan 2006
Source: NMR KPI system
As You all know already your working harder!Trend in labour input per cow
Herd Size
10 – 40 41 - 70 70 - 100 101 - 150
150
Direct labour cost per cow
2002-03 62.90 41.10 35.00 27.30 24.70
Direct labour cost per cow
1996-97 62.20 45.30 35.20 31.90 27.20
Labour hours per 1000 litres
2002-03 12.24 6.73 4.86 3.98 3.29
Labour hours per 1000 litres
1996-97 11.52 8.24 5.93 5.21 4.31
Source: Colman, Farrar, Zhuang
Productivity, milk quality and fertility: A Summary
• Herd size and yields
• Milk quality and fertility
or no change• PROFITABILITY
Why 365 days?
Milk per cow per year
Optimal Calving Interval - 365 vs 400days?
Example herd – Extended Calving – 1st service and decreasing conception rates
They have lost 1000 litres /cow of their bottom line!
The Costs of Infertility – Lost milk
6000 litres / 305 days
10000 / litres 305 days
% Yield Drop
Per Month
~ 10.5% ~ 6.5%
Cost per Day’s delay
£2.50 £1.90
2002 – daisy costing
Fertility Yardsticks
Calving interval 410 days (target 365)
•Failure to conceive cull rate of 17% (target 6%)
•Serves per conception of 2.5 (target 1.8)
* National figures from Esslemont & Kossaibatti 2002
What is the overall financial impact of infertility?
Semen / AI Cost Calf crop – exports????Lost Milk
DIRECT COSTS OF REDUCED FERTILITY
Replacement ‘cull’ cost
Value of a replacement heifer
Costs of sub-fertility – 100 cow BVC herd
Days empty : £1.90/ day CI 430
430-365=65 x 1.90 x 100 = £12350
Replacement cost: £600 11 culls FTC
17% - 6% = 11cows @ 600 = £6,600
Service cost: £15 2.5 services / Conception
2.5 – 1.8 = 0.7serves @ 15 = £1,050
Cost for 100 cow herd = £20,000
The economics of sub-fertility
Divide the £20,000 through a quota of 800,000 litres (100cows @ 8000litres sold /cow /year BVC average)
Fertility cost to our average dairy farm equates to 2.5 pence per litre!
The Economics of sub fertility Accept 400 day CI is target ?????? Days empty : £1.90/ day CI 430 430-400=30 x 1.90 x 100 = £5700
Replacement cost: £600 11 culls FTC 17% - 6% = 11cows @ 600 = £6,600
Service cost: £15 2.5 services / Conception 2.5 – 1.8 = 0.7serves @ 15 = £1,050
Cost for 100 cow herd = £13335 or 1.67p.p.l.
So what are we seeing on Farm?
Declining Conception Rates
0
50
100
150
200
Yield
Preg ratecows
Preg rateheifers
Sub Oestrus Cows Traditional Fresian – 30 years ago Standing Oestrus lasted 15 hours and each cow averaged ~ 50
mounts
Modern Holstein Standing oestrus last only ~ 7 hours and manages only 8-9 mounts More “inappropriate” behaviour – stale follicles which do not ovulate
so cows show no heat and also cystic ovaries. Most cows are cycling either silently or are not being observed, Dutch Study – 32% of cows that ovulated never showed a
standing heat Net result cows are inseminated on secondary bulling signs –
chin resting / bellowing etc. Conception rate suffers as the semen has died if the cow is AI
along time ahead of ovulation.
What can we do about it ?
How can we improve our conception rates and our heat detection rates.
Improving Herd Performance
Records & Analysis
Heat DetectionConception Rate
Fertility Management – Recording and Analysis
What is the current situation?
Returns identified quickly Disaster!
The effect of a hard weekend?
We can see improvements.
Heat Detection
100 day in calf rate The impact of better heat detection
100 Cows Farm A Farm B
Conception Rate 50% 50%
Heat detection
Rate
50% 75%
Day 50 – 70
1st service period
50
25
75
37
70 – 90
2nd service period
38
19
48
24
90 – 100
½ 3rd service period
14
7
20
10
Number Pregnant at 100 days
Number Empty
51
49
71
29
Seen in heat
Number pregnant
Number of Mounts in relation to Number of Cows in Heat
Diskin & Others 2002
Number Of Cows In Oestrus
Duration of standing heat (hours)
Number of Mounts per Cow
1 8 13
2 12 17
3 14 31
4 15 29
5 15 38
When do Cows Show Heat ?Time Percent of Cows in Heat
6 am – noon 22%
Noon – 6pm 10%
6pm – midnight 25%
Midnight – 6am 43%
Cornell University study
Action lists: Targeted surveillanceSpend time with the CowsTime: 20min dedicated 3 x day
Aids to heat detection Freeze Brands Tail Paint Kamars Teaser Bulls Pedometers Progesterone testing - MOIRA
Oestrus Scoring - Cow reaches 50 points in a 24 hour period - Heat
Sign Points Score
Clear vulval slime 3
Bellowing, butting & restlessness 5
Sniffing or licking vagina 10
Being mounted and walking off 10
Chin resting on another cow 15
Mounting other cows or attempting 35
Head mounting another cow 45
Standing Heat 100
The “Teaser Bull”
Herd A – struggling to detect returns
Results
80%-90% PD+ at pregnancy diagnosis previously 50-60% PD+.
Conception Rate – still national average 40% Block Calving Herd – stops autumn calving cows
becoming spring calving cows !
Planning Get everyone on the farm involved. Set time aside to watch your cows. The evening check is
the most important – 3 x 30 minutes. Make use of heat detection aids: Cows 45 days calved. Kamar / tail paint cows 10 days post AI – help detect
returns Make sure that cows not seen in heat are cycling. “ONOs” – cows not seen in heat by day 60. Consider synchronisation of cows. Early pregnancy diagnosis – identifies the non pregnant
cow and gets her served again quickly.
Thank you to James Hawkins & Dave Evans